Spoiler Alert
by larrymcg
Summary: Jim must deal with his newfound fame in the wake of the documentary's surprising success.


It was a bleak and cloudy day in Scranton. The rain was set to arrive any minute. Jim Halpert walked along with his shoulders slumped, on his way to ... something, he couldn't really remember at that moment. It had all kind of blended together lately. He was busier than ever, barely able to get any free time, although it's not like he'd ever done anything with it before.

Suddenly, Jim could feel it. There was someone following him. He wasn't sure who it was, but he had a good idea of what they wanted. Usually he'd be friendly, but today he just wanted to get where he needed to be. He noticed that she was still following him and getting closer. Jim took a quick left at the next street, hoping to find a place he could quickly duck his head into. However, the second he made his way around the corner, there was a whole group of them. There was no way he'd get away this time.

"Excuse me, you're Jim aren't you?" a perky twenty something girl asked him.

Jim figured there was no longer any point in fighting a futile battle. "Yeah, that'd be me," he responded with a smile.

She was blushing and clearly nervous about what she was going to say next. "I'm Tiffany and these are my friends," she pointed to the other girls in the group. "Can we g-get your autograph?" she asked. She handed him a copy of the recently released second season DVD for the documentary.

"Absolutely," he said with a grin, and began signing autographs for each of the girls.

"I do!" They all squealed in unison.

Jim looked a bit confused. "I'm sorry?" he asked.

"Absolutely I do," she replied with great enthusiasm. "It's one of your best lines from the show. When you and Dwight were in the alliance."

This still felt surreal to Jim. They were talking about stuff he said as "lines" and events from his life as a "show". He knew the documentary would air at some point. He just never had an idea of how popular it would get. It was just supposed to be some simple little cable show, and now it had become a cult phenomenon. He had trouble going anywhere without people staring at him, taking his picture, or asking for autographs. In some cases, he even found himself being sneered at by angry Dwight fans.

The documentary producers had promised them a nice cash bonus if they did their best to conceal spoilers, which made it difficult seeing as how the TV show was now a full year behind real life events. The last thing people had seen was the Casino Night kiss, and with the season premiere coming up, the questioning became even more intense. Jim wanted nothing more than to ignore the pain of that moment, but it was all people wanted to ask him about. Michael, who reveled in all the shouts of "That's what she said!" he received on the streets, was secretly jealous of the fact that Jim and Pam had stolen all the attention away from him, since he thought he was supposed to be the star of the show. Jim would gladly let him have all the attention if it meant he didn't have to answer one more question about that awful night.

With the premiere mounting, Jim was worried how people would react to the next season's events. He was worried they'd be harsh to Karen, and probably Pam as well. It had already leaked that Pam didn't get married, so now people were certainly expecting that it was the kiss that sealed the deal and Pam would immediately run off with him so they could live happily ever after. Jim knew the reality was much different than that, and he feared that Karen especially would get the worst of it from the audience. He also wasn't prepared to deal with the countless awkward questions he'd have to answer about that situation.

Having gotten past the initial nervousness of talking to him, Tiffany and her friends obviously felt free to ask him whatever was on their mind. "Can you tell us anything about the premiere?"

Jim smiled, knowing what they wanted to hear, but he wasn't about to let it slip. He had plenty of practice by now in how to deal with such questions. "Well, you'll meet a couple new, uh, characters. One of them is even more annoying than Dwight."

Several of the girls giggled at this juicy bit of gossip, but Tiffany would not be dissuaded. She obviously wanted more info. "Who is that brunette girl we always see you with?" she asked abruptly.

Jim was caught off guard for a moment, but quickly recovered, "That's, uh, my assistant Sheila."

After Jim dodged a few more probing questions, the girls dispersed and he finally remembered that he was headed to the hotel to participate in a Q&A session for the local press.

"You're late," a short, brunette woman said as Jim finally arrived at the hotel.

"Okay, Dwight," Jim said.

She was only slightly amused by his joke. "That's very funny, but it really annoys people when you're late to these events."

He rolled his eyes and said, "Sheila, they've seen me on TV, right? Why would they be surprised that I'm late?"

"Fair point, but let's not push it," she replied.

Jim went through the usual series of questions from reporters about the past season, most of them being about things that had happened with Pam. He found it a little unsettling that people had actually counted the exact seconds of that moment on the booze cruise. It certainly seemed longer than twenty-seven to him, and Jim now secretly hoped that he'd had just five more seconds that night. He also had to dodge more questions about the upcoming season, although it amused him that the press wasn't nearly as clever about this as the fans. Afterwards, he stayed behind to sign autographs for some fans who had managed to sneak into the hotel, until Sheila gestured at her watch.

"Sorry, my assistant is dragging me away," he said with mock frustration. Before leaving, he decided to give his fans a little present by giving them a classic Jim face, making most of them giggle and causing several of the girls to squeal. The latter reaction dissuaded Jim from doing stuff like that more often. Dealing with one Kelly was more than enough.

When they finally arrived inside the hotel room to presumably discuss business, Jim immediately pulled Sheila in his arms and gave her a long, deep kiss. "I've been waiting to do that all day," he said.

"Oh yeah? What's been stopping you?" she said flirtatiously.

"Well, you know, I have to tend to my thousands of adoring fans," he boasted.

"Oh right, well at least you have priorities," she said.

He suddenly remembered his encounter with Tiffany. "Someone actually asked me about you today."

This definitely surprised her. "They did? What did you say?"

He shrugged and said, "I told them you were my assistant."

"So you lied?" she asked.

Jim didn't answer this. Instead he just looked her up and down and asked, "Do you realize how ridiculous you look?"

"Oh, really?" she replied back. "You helped me come up with this."

"Yeah, I must have been drunk or something," he said shaking his head. "I can't believe no one has figured it out yet."

"I guess I'm just that good," she confidently said as she removed her glasses, wig, and jacket. "Is that better?" Pam asked.

"Much better," Jim replied. "Although, I have to say the fantasy was…"

"Don't finish that thought!" Pam warned him, but she wasn't mad. She had a big grin on her face. This was them. It would always be them.

Jim pulled a ring out of his coat pocket and slipped it on his finger. "Remind me to take it off when we leave this time."

Pam nodded and looked down at her ring. "I'm just glad that 'Sheila' is married, so I can just admire mine more often. Now, let's get you out of these clothes," she said salaciously.

"I'm certainly not going to fight you," Jim said, and he didn't. They soon fell back on the bed and gazed into each other's eyes.

"When do you think we can have a real wedding?" she asked as she let her fingers roam through his hair.

Jim smiled and said, "I don't know. Probably sometime in May."


End file.
